


hunted (no longer)

by DanFanRonpa



Series: Dream SMP/Dream Team Stuff [4]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dream Swap (Video Blogging RPF), Angst, C!Dream is a fucking asshole, Exiled TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Feral Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Feral TommyInnit (Video Blogging RFP), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Protective Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Spread it around, TEMPORARY HAITUS DUE TO EXAMS, Touch-Starved, Weekly Updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:08:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28924089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanFanRonpa/pseuds/DanFanRonpa
Summary: Tommy finds Dream, dressed in iron armour and wielding a measly iron axe. He also finds that he's not from this world.Or, Manhunt!Dream and C!Dream switch places.[Inspired byTechnopog's au on Tumblr]Technopog's AO3
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: Dream SMP/Dream Team Stuff [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2104362
Comments: 63
Kudos: 1135





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeing his chance to escape, Tommy runs into the forest and almost has his neck sliced open. This is fun.

He's running. He doesn't know where, but his compass says he's going north. But, it's fine. Anything is better than that hellhole called exile. Anything is better than having his stuff blown up and Dream manipulating him and tricking him into thinking everyone hates him. (He's not entirely sure if they do or don't hate him, but he knows he can't trust Dream. Not anymore.) 

Dream is not his friend.

Then, suddenly, he's on the ground, winded and unable to move as an axe is aimed at his throat. When his brain registers this, he pales, throwing himself back and tossing his hands up in surrender. "No! No! No! Please! I'm sorry! I'll go back - I promise! I promise!" He yells, panicked, as the smile mask stares down at him apathetically.

Dream. 

Except, he was donning damaged iron armour and the axe was of the same material, blood staining the flat edge as the blade remained clean from sharpening but chipped from usage. His hair was longer, too. Down to his shoulder, chopped raggedly and tied up messily, strands of dark brown hair falling from its hold. 

An imposter, maybe? Some sort of sick prank?

"..." Carefully, he tested, "... D-Dream...?" 

The axe twitched as the man flinched. "How--?" He cut himself off, his voice terribly rasp. He didn't need to hear any more. This was Dream. 

"Dream, look, I'm sorry. I-I'll go back. J-Just... Don't kill me... Please...?" There was a dragged out moment of silence. Then, in a move completely unlike him, Dream bolted, disappearing from Tommy's sight in an instant, hardly making a sound as he ran. 

Tommy stared at where he ran, dumbfound as he massaged his neck lightly. He was sure that Dream was going to kill him for trying to run. For trying to escape his exile. Was this really Dream? Was this really the same man that blew up all his stuff and manipulated him into thinking he was his only friend? Was it? 

Surely not.

Could it? 

He forged onto the North with this in mind, that single question plaguing his mind. North was away from L'Manburg (away from the place he no longer belonged to). So North was the way to go. 

He didn't sleep that night. He couldn't. 

Instead, he went into the forest, hand automatically going to his neck as he recalls the event. If he's being totally honest, while he was definitely in danger, he didn't think he was going to die. Injured maybe, but not dead. Somehow. After everything that has happened until now, Tommy feels... safe around Dream.

His eyes went up to the trees as he heard a rustling, and they stayed there as he wandered about, keeping an eye out for the white mask and lime hoodie (though, the colour had faded and been covered by dirt and blood with different tones of green stitched randomly). 

Of course, in his search, he bumped into a skeleton. He jumped and quickly took care of it, but it was too late. The mobs had noticed him. Zombies, skeletons, creepers, spiders. The zombies were easy to kill, but not when groups of three other types of creatures jumped at him, blowing up and shooting arrows and biting at his legs. 

"Fuck!" He screamed as an arrow pierced his shoulder, another arrow flying at him that he was only just about able to dodge. Tommy had no room to think, weaving through the trees as skeletons shot at him and creepers hissed and blew up. His shoulder throbbed in pain, his legs no better from exhaustion and spider bites. His ribs protested loudly from the sheer amount of explosions that sent him back and burned his lungs. 

He tripped. He cursed loudly. "What is this!? Some sort of horror-thriller!?" He heard the clacking of bones, freezing when he saw multiple bows drawn, ready to shoot him down. 

Was this it? This was how he was going to lose his final life? Being jumped by overworld mobs? While looking for Dream? While running from him?

Was Dream going to be the cause of all his lost lives?

As it turns out: no. 

Quite the opposite, in fact. He missed what happened, squeezing his eyes shut as the skeletons released the bowstring. But, when he opened his eyes, Dream was in front of him, an arrow embedded into his thigh and his arm, but his shield taking most of the hits, four or five arrows stabbing it. 

Tommy watched with blackening vision as Dream took them down with ease and wild movements as if the arrows still in his limbs weren't even there. The skeletons went down first with only two swings from his axe. The creepers were taken care of with his bow, avoiding any explosions altogether. The zombies were easy to kill with a single strike, decapitating them. And the spiders went down in a similar fashion, Dream killing them all in one hit. 

He had no chance to contemplate this, finally giving in to the black creeping in his vision.

* * *

Tommy woke up with a start, groaning as he immediately held his shoulder. The pain had reduced to a dull throb. From the feel of it, he wasn't given any potions, but the injury was looked after and treated properly. His chest and legs no longer hurt (as bad). From the rest, maybe. 

He looked around. He was in a room on a bed. The room itself looked relatively new but hastily built, consisting of only wooden planks for walls and a floor, with a single wooden table as decor. When was this built?

"You're awake." He jumped and screamed as he faced Dream, the sudden entrance scaring him. Dream flinched back, obviously too, but walked in the room as placed a small plate with a slice of well-done steak on it. Hesitantly, he took a bite. It was plain and had almost no flavour, but it was satisfying his hunger, so he couldn't complain.

He took a shuddering breath, "Big D, where are we?" He asked tentatively as he finished the food. This was the real test. 

Dream shrugged. "I built this quickly so you could heal. That's all." 

Right. That settles that. Tommy looked at him sceptically, "Who are you? B-Because you're not the Dream I know." The Dream he knows would have threatened him the moment he said Big D and demanded he never calls him that again. Or he would have pandered his sentences to gaslight him.

"I don't..." He frowns and curls in on himself, bringing his knees to his chest as he picked at the hems of his jeans. "I don't think that I'm from this world." He says, finally. Tommy waits for him to elaborate, staring in shock. "I woke up surrounded by someone who stopped at nothing to kill me in my world. He was nice to me here... And... Everyone else seems to fear or hate me..." 

Tommy shook. A Dream who wasn't from this world? Who was clearly as skilled as their Dream? Who wasn't obsessed over power and authority? 

Who helped him? 

Dream sighed and looked at him, face unreadable behind that porcelain mask. The sight made Tommy freeze, his breathing cutting off as he tried to calm himself because this _isn't him! This isn't the same Dream who ruthlessly hunted him and his friends down. It isn't the one who made him helpless and then protected him to earn his trust. It isn't the one who helped blow up the entire country of Manburg._

_This Dream saved him._

"-- name?" Tommy jolted, clocking back into reality. He looked at Dream and asked him to repeat himself, his voice low and shaken. Dream curled up just a bit more. "... What's your, uh... your name?" 

Oh. "Tommy." He answers, his breathing stabilising as he clutched the bedsheets. "My name is Tommy..." 

"Tommy..." Dream practised, "... Tommy, what is your me like?" He asks. 

Tommy swallows a lump in his throat. "In simple terms... you were just... horrible." He flinched. "You hunted me and my friends down several times, all because we started a new country for independence. You started a war with us. You bombed our nation and even ambushed us by using a traitor. You killed us in a vault room and took all of our stuff and burned what you couldn't hold. It was..."

Terrifying. Traumatising. Awful. Sick.

"It was bad..." He urges himself to look at Dream. The man before him is nothing like he's used to. His arms are wrapped around his legs, curling in tightly. He was rocking minutely on the balls of his feet as if scared or trying to distract himself. "You helped blow up an entire country. You... You drove my older brother into insanity. You hated me. Tried to put me on probation, and when I refused, you made my best friend choose between me or L'Manburg..."

"..."

"D-During the exile... You manipulated me. You made me put my-- my stuff in a hole a-and blew it all up. Y-You made me believe th-that... that all my friends hated me! That you were my only friend, when you just... hurt me." 

Tommy roughly wipes the tears from his eyes with his fist. "You were evil."

Dream says nothing as he breaks from his position and stands up. The movement makes Tommy flinch and back up. It wasn't a quick move -- quite the opposite, in fact. It was slow and calm. It was intimidating. 

"Sorry." Sorry? "Does the... Does the mask remind you of him? Of your Dream?" Not trusting his voice, he nods. Dream sighs and reaches up, unclasping the mask and taking it off with shaky hands.

The sight makes Tommy frown. His face is littered with scars, across his nose and through his jaw. The one that stood out the most was the large scar across his left eye. His eye itself was fine so Dream probably wasn't blind in that eye. But it still spooked him.

"Is that better...?" 

"... Yeah..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy is touch-starved. So is Dream. They react in different ways.

Seeing Dream without his mask was weird. It was like seeing a skeleton without a bow - it didn't fit. 

But, he couldn't deny the impact. The fact that this Dream trusted him enough to show him his face, just to make him more comfortable. It worked, too. Now, whenever he saw Dream, he didn't immediately freeze up and think back to the countless times that Dream haunted him. 

Of course, there were moments. When Dream spoke out of the blue and his voice was just so familiar and Tommy was sent over, hand in his hair and screaming and backing away, for instance. Or when he caught a glimpse of lime peeking through dirt and dried blood and he forgot how to breathe until brown hair entered his vision and emerald eyes soothed him. 

It happened to Dream too. Whenever they'd fallen into silence and Tommy suddenly interrupted it, and then there's a blade to his neck and wide, fearful eyes and an animalistic growl from his throat through bared teeth. Or when Tommy snuck up on him, tapping his shoulder ever so slightly, and then Dream is screaming and thrashing, eyes hazed with panic and fear and it's never a good look.

It took him a while to realise that Dream was just as scarred and scared as he - even more so, probably. 

"What was your world like?" He asks, once. 

"..." Dream doesn't answer for a while and Tommy ducks his head, a shameful red painting his cheeks. But then he speaks. "I... was never allowed to feel safe." That single sentence is almost too relatable to him. "I was fine before, but then the admin set a bounty on me... Suddenly, I was running for my life for a reason I wasn't aware of. Rest wasn't an option..." 

They stop at a river, mainly for Tommy who isn't as used to travelling as Dream is. "Pandas... My best friend turned on me without hesitation..." 

Pandas. Tommy bites his lip, a pool of water in his cupped hands. Dream called Sapnap that sometimes, right? 

"I thought I could trust him, but when I turned to him, I woke up with a knife in my stomach and he was the one holding it." 

Sapnap? Well, their relationship is somewhat strained now, and he _is_ a mercenary. But even _that_ was low. Betraying his close friend just for a price on his head. Now, Tommy didn't like Dream - at all, really. But Tommy isn't an asshole either. He knows unjust treatment when he hears or sees it. 

He never asks again.

Dream sighed and craned his neck side to side. "Let's stop for today. There's no rush, and I don't have much food left." Tommy scans his inventory and finds that he was the same. He only had one cooked pork chop and a few mushrooms. 

Tommy pulls out some dirt blocks and is ready to start building when Dream hesitantly pokes his shoulder. He jolts and looks at the man. 

Dream points up. He follows the line and sees... nothing. Nothing but leaves and a few apples hanging off of him. Tommy looks at Dream and tilts his head in confusion. Contemplating, Dream kicked at the ground before grabbing Tommy's wrist and leaping up the tree.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Is all he can scream, suddenly finding himself in the canopy of the trees. Dream's got a steady grip on him but he can't help but feel like he's about to fall off at any given moment. 

"... Safer..." It's a mutter, but Tommy heard it loud and clear in spite of his shouting. "Safer up here... Easier..." 

Oh. Was this how Dream's mind worked? Was this engrained into him? That was... just plain depressing. 

"Uh... Okay..."

He almost falls off a few times. Dream's always in that same position whenever he abruptly wakes. Tommy was only seventeen but he knew the implications. He was used to it. It didn't make getting back to sleep any easier. 

In the morning, when they continue their travel up North, Tommy decidedly didn't question Dream. After asking Dream about his own world, he didn't know whether it was a good idea or not. An internal conflict of getting it out of the way and getting another depressing story, or waiting until he felt safe and then having Dream trust him enough to tell him of his own violation. 

In the end, he went with neither, leaving the decision for FutureInnit. 

The longer they walked in silence, the more restless Tommy gets. Because, for once, there's someone other than the asshole who stuck him in this position (then again, wasn't it Tubbo who ultimately decided?) and Tommy hadn't interacted with someone else other than Mamacita and Mexican Dream. The latter of whom is now dead and Mamacita hasn't seen him in over a month. 

To put it simply, he _craved_ contact. Without a break, for over half a year, he'd fought again and again for the country he thought was home, and for the people he thought cared for him.

(He's not sure if it's Dream's manipulation at work, but he just can't trust them again. Techno was _right._ )

And when he thought he was allowed to relax do something for himself, he was exiled from the country he saved and put at the mercy of the one person who knew him. Who knew his ticks and what really made him riled. He knew what would break him and played it to a T. Tommy only just about snapped out of it when Dream went missing for a few days (and came back as a whole other person).

He doesn't remember the last time someone _ruffled his hair_ , much less actually hug him. Not even Tubbo did that. And whenever Wilbur used to place his hand on his shoulder, it always felt _wrong_ and it was usually followed up by some insane talk. And Techno? Technoblade doesn't do affection. He'd have a meltdown before he willfully hugged someone. Even if it was someone he once considered a brother. 

When Dream grabbed his wrist... It felt foreign. It felt weird. The action felt like a jolt of electricity running through him and left him buzzing and needing more. He wanted the warmth of a hug. He wanted the serenity of holding hands. He wanted the parental feeling of a hand brushing locks of hair. 

He wanted human touch. 

Maybe that's why he tried. But, he probably should have given some sort of warning. Perhaps warning Dream would have resulted in something other than a quivering sword to his neck, pinned to a tree. 

A flash of hurt and anger shot through him as Dream _snarled_ , eyes wide with rage as he hissed out a warning, " _Don't touch me_." 

He was mad and confused and hurt because he thought this Dream was different. He thought that this Dream would be less cruel than Dream. At least the Dream he knew let Tommy do stuff like swing an arm around his shoulder. At least his Dream sometimes held him and ruffled his hair. (Though, looking back on it, it was probably just to let Tommy's guard down). 

Then Tommy realised with a start. Dream wasn't mad. He wasn't shaking from anger. No, it was much worse. He was terrified. A simple touch - barely three fingers brushing against his shoulder blade - had sent Dream into this frenzy, as if Tommy was dangerous. As if he could really do something with no weapon or armour. 

Ender, this was fucked. 

Dream is even more touch-starved than him. Tommy wouldn't have thought it possible if he hadn't seen the definitive proof. Of course. This guy spent Ender knows how long being hunted and betrayed by people he thought of as family. 

It was no wonder that he associated touch with _pain_. 

Well, lucky for him, Tommy was desperate. And determined. 

"Dream..." The name was still weird on his tongue, as if it didn't fit. It didn't fit. His Dream and this Dream were just so... far apart. They were almost nothing like each other. And Tommy connected the name 'Dream' with pain and trauma and danger. This Dream... Well, he felt safe. 

Tommy shook his head. "Dre, take my hand." Dream looked confused at the name, and even more perturbed by the hand Tommy held out. He opened his mouth, and Tommy knew he was going to protest. So he cut him off, "Please?" 

He faltered and Tommy knew he won. With a small sigh and shaky hands, Dream reached out and placed his (heavily scarred) hand on Tommy's. His eyes were wide and his jaw locked into place as he did so, as if expecting Tommy to kill him in a most horrific fashion. 

Seconds passed, and, slowly, Tommy curled his fingers around Dream's hand, flicking his eyes to the man when his breath hitched. Soon enough, they were actually holding hands. He swallowed with some difficulty, tears stinging his eyes. 

Dream stared curiously, watching their hands carefully instead of looking at Tommy's face (which he was grateful for - he didn't want Dream to see him crying). After what felt like an hour, when, in reality, it had only been half a minute, Dream squeezed softly. 

He sobbed, loud and unbashful. 

It was just a simple case of holding hands, and it was only one. But Tommy had missed it _so much_ that it hurt. A simple gesture - one that almost anyone could do. But it meant the world to him. 

It seemed to mean the world to Dream too, as when Tommy met his eyes, they were wet with tears and full of longing. 

They weren't alone anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream, for the first time in years, feels safe. He doesn't want to lose that.

Dream hadn't been planning on staying with Tommy, if he's to be blunt. He planned to just help Tommy heal from the arrow wounds and whatever else he had. And after that, he would be gone. Far from this place. Far from those people who smiled daggers. 

He didn't expect this. Years of running and fighting polluted his mind, traitorous voices whispering words of poison. He isn't safe, they claimed. Tommy's gonna betray him. He's going to wake up and he'll be in prison. That, or he'll have a knife in his chest, unable to breathe. 

Somehow, Tommy wormed his way past his defences and got way too comfortable for his own good. Dream was dangerous. Associating with him was dangerous. And as much as he hates to admit it, he doesn't like the idea of Tommy being hurt. 

He didn't know why he protected Tommy, either. All he knows is that, one moment, he was perfectly content in letting Tommy deal with the mobs _(the last time he helped someone in danger, he was almost decapitated)_ , but as soon as Tommy tripped and the skeleton made to shoot at this unarmed, defenceless boy, Dream found himself shielding him and dealing with all the mobs in the area. 

Building was an area he rarely ever drabbled in. Maybe everyone few months, he'd build a small trap for the hunters of the week (or the usual four), but, other than that? He never built. He was always on the run. There was no time for comfort. 

_(He made that mistake once. He thought he was safe and had time. But he had to scramble for his life, breaking through walls to get out of the TNT riddled building.)_

The shack was small, only a five by four, but it worked and Tommy was ready to leave in just two days. And against his better judgement, he followed him, protecting him and making sure he was safe. Again, he didn't know why. Just that he needed and wanted to. 

Talking about his past, as small as the portion of the story was, left a horrible feeling in the back of his throat, but his shoulders felt just a little bit lighter, as if some of the weight was lifted. Part of him wanted to talk more about it, just to see how much weight could be discarded from simply _speaking about it_. It was easily overwhelmed by the paranoia in his gut and the fear he was drowning in. 

They did something different that night. Dream brought Tommy into the treetops and they slept there. Tommy woke up several times during the night (Dream used to be like that too). Dream woke up too, the movement and noise jostling his sensitive ears. But he was able to go back to sleep easy enough. 

Tommy touched him. The tips of three fingers barely touching the fabric of his hoodie. But it was enough to send him into a frenzy. 

Without thinking about it, he had Tommy against the tree, only just restraining himself from slicing Tommy's neck open. His hands shook and a feral growl tore from his throat. " _Don't touch me._ "

Betrayal stung deeply because he thought Tommy was _safe_. He thought Tommy wasn't going to _hurt him. Wasn't he? He was supposed to be trustworthy! Dream showed his face and yet Tommy was going to hurt him!_

_(And just like that, he's not in some forest in the so-called Dream SMP. He's in Fantasia Wilds, running for his life, pleading for mercy and for them to just **go away** and **leave him alone!** There are arrows and pearls flying and the trees are burning and there's nowhere to run--!)_

He snaps back into reality and sees sorrow in Tommy's eyes. He feels guilty for a second. Because he was right - Tommy isn't going to hurt him. Tommy's just a scared kid, running from a psychologically abusive environment. 

He lowers his sword and walks ahead. A bout of shame settles in his stomach. Was what he did any better than what his Dream did? Had he accidentally lured Tommy into thinking he was safe, only to throw it back in his face because Tommy _almost_ touched him? 

He silently berated himself as he stores his sword away into his inventory. Tommy had been manipulated enough, and he wasn't even eighteen. He didn't need Dream worsening his state. 

"Dream..." He stopped and looked back at Tommy, pushing down the awful feelings stirring within him as he's reminded of what happened just a few minutes ago. Was Tommy going to leave? Was he going to call him out on his hypocrisy? 

"Dre," Dre? Not Dream? Was Tommy trying to disassociate him with the man who made his life a living hell? After what he did, he doesn't know if he actually deserves it, "take my hand." 

Tommy held his hand out, open and lax, though his arm was stiff with apprehension. Dream didn't know how to feel. Because Tommy was trusting him with something so personal (at least, personal to him) and Dream had his sword to his neck mere minutes ago. Not even an hour had passed. 

So he went to refuse, only to be cut off before he could speak. "Please?" 

Please. Tommy said please. He didn't just want this, Dream realises. He _needed_ this. He needed this interaction. This was something Tommy has been craving for the longest time. And after what he's heard, how could he deny him? 

It wasn't easy. The closer his hand was to Tommy's, the faster his breathing became. By the time he managed to rest his hand on the open palm, he was almost hyperventilating, breathing heavily and broken through his nose as his jaw refused to budge.

But, in an instant, everything stopped. The blood roaring in his ears and the trembling of his bones was put to a halt. And while his eyes were wide, he wasn't scared. No, he was curious. He hadn't felt something like this since he was little.

Tommy curled his fingers around his palm. No matter how hard he tried, he still flinched, hand jerking but never leaving Tommy's. He heard Tommy sniff, but he just couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight. His eyes watered. 

This was safe, he realises. Tommy was safe. He was safe. There was no way in hell Tommy was going to hurt him - not after this exchange. It isn't the same as with Pandas. Pandas... He hurt Dream way back when they were nine and ten. There wasn't a time for personal moments such as these. They didn't know what personal was.

But Tommy? Tommy is seventeen, matured through acts of war and trauma. His trust was broken by everyone he cared about and he was toyed with so badly by a man with the same voice as him. He knew betrayal and he knew personal matters. 

And he still trusted him.

He squeezed back. Tommy sobbed without restraint. Dream was close to following. 

He didn't want to let go. He hasn't had someone touch him and not hurt him right after. After years and years of running and fighting and pain, someone was finally _kind_ to him. The hand holding his was a testament to that. As was their mutual crying, Tommy's cries loud while his silent. 

It was different. A good different. It was nice. 

When he had to let go, it was to kill a few cows for food. He stared at his hand and looked at Tommy's with longing. But he didn't ask. He was a bit... overwhelmed by the recent events and didn't want to push himself or Tommy more than they already had. 

They slept in the trees again. In a sense. Tommy slept, still jostling awake in the night. But Dream couldn't. Instead, he spent the night clenching and unclenching his hand, unable to forget the warmth of another. Suddenly, he realises what he was missing. 

The next morning, he offers his hand to Tommy. 

Tommy bursts into tears again, but takes his hand nonetheless. His grip was tight as if afraid Dream was going to leave him. He cries loudly, shaking and refusing to let go. "I m-miss them!" He wails and Dream can't help the sorrow filling him. "I miss Tubbo! And Techno! I miss Ranboo...! And - And Wilbur! I-I miss them so much!" 

Tommy lurches forward and Dream's instinct is to push him away. It's _dangerous. Tommy's gonna hurt him! He's gonna die -- HE'S GONNA--!_

Tommy wraps his arms around his torso, burying his face into Dream's shoulder. His arms freeze at his side and finally draws in a breath, trembling and burning down his throat. 

_Tommy is safe._

Shakily, he brings his arms up and, after many failed attempts, finally places them around Tommy's shoulders, a hand going up to settle in Tommy's hair. 

This time, his cries are as loud as Tommy's, tears running down his face as his limbs tremble. He can barely hold himself up, but he finds a way - if only for Tommy. 

At that moment, he decided that he'd protect Tommy no matter what.


End file.
